


One Last Shot

by HungryLibrary



Category: RWBY
Genre: First posted to Tumblr, Mentions of Blood, Sad, also it's a grimm fight so, in which case please enjoy watching her die!, shippers might detect a hint of white rose if they so wish to, unless you don't like ruby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-04
Updated: 2014-12-04
Packaged: 2018-02-27 06:16:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2682212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HungryLibrary/pseuds/HungryLibrary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ruby leads her team for the final time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Last Shot

Warm and wet, the blood trickled through Ruby’s fingers.

Crescent Rose scraped across the ground as she stood. There wasn’t enough strength in her to lift the poor beauty properly, and it would take some polishing to get the scratches out…

_Concentrate._

“Spread out!” The air felt thinner all of a sudden, like she gained miles of height instead of inches just by straightening up.

“Weiss, get in the air. Stop it from moving out of range!”

Her partner only paused a split second before bounding up and away on a glyph.

Never had Ruby been more thankful for her cloak than she was now, grateful for how it draped over her and for the red color that hid blood so well. Weiss wouldn’t have left if she’d known.

“Go for its eyes, Blake, and blind it! Yang-“

_Yang…. Sis, I’m so sorry._

“-Beat it down! We need this shot to be the last!”

She didn’t have time for another.

Tick-tock, perfect as a clock, the giant Grimm was corralled. God they were a great team…

_Oh god I don’t want to leave._

Fireworks boomed against black hide. Yang snarled with every punch, dealing double duty, probably pissed that the monster had given her little sister a smack down. Ruby could see the crimson of her eyes even from here.

A shadow blurred past the Grimm’s face, leaving a splash of red in its wake. Blake moved like a living whirlwind, way too fast for the giant claws that chased her as she steadily crippled it.

Crescent Rose clattered as she was loaded. Ruby had to bite her lips and scream a little to manage, her head buzzing distractingly in the background.

She really was down to one last shot.

Icicles as long as spears rained from above, not striking the Grimm’s armored back, but caging it in from three sides.

Weiss had left a clear path open for her partner.

_You’re the best teammate ever, Weiss. I’ll have to remember to tell you that later._

_…Or try to, anyway._

“Incoming!”

They barely needed her warning. This was just another finishing move, even if the target was a little bigger than normal. Bigger even than their first kill together- almost three times the size of a Nevermore.

But they’d grown up a bit too.

They’d gone through so much together…

The boom and recoil blasted Ruby into a world of pain. She twisted in midair, spinning faster than her heart could measure, a desperate balancing act of weapon and body.

_These gashes are **really** screwing with my style._

They bit deep into the crook of the Grimm’s jaw, smashing clear through, then across its back and-

_WHAM!_

-into the ice behind it.

Everything burned cold….. but that didn’t make any sense.

Screams filled her ears like a victory chorus. She thought they were screams anyway. The sound was soft and rushing, nothing like the Grimm’s deep roar.

“Dolt! What kind of idiot runs straight into a wall of ice?!”

_Oh hey, it’s Weiss…_

There was something white. It got bigger, brighter… was it getting closer?

Ruby tried to flinch back-

_They always say not to go into the light._

“Stop squirming. Don’t try to stand until I’ve looked you…over…”

_No wait, that’s just Weiss again._

_Weiss… huh._

It felt like someone had stuffed her head with echoes and then beaten it with a big brass bell, but even in the mess Ruby still got the feeling that-

_There was something I wanted to say to her, right?_

The sounds rose suddenly, words Ruby heard but couldn’t remember long enough to understand. Her view changed. Yellow replaced white. A shadow moved in the corner of her eye and began messing with the dark sticky folds of her cloak.

Come to think of it, her side and chest were feeling really weird. Blake was probably trying to fix it.

_Blake’s nice, but it’s Weiss you wanted to say something to. Think…_

White, gold, and black….Even if she couldn’t see so well now, it was great to have everyone together.  

_We’re the best team ever!_

She remembered.

She could barely blink and didn’t seem to have a working mouth anymore, but Ruby remembered what she’s wanted to say.

“Wis…”

Not too bad. Try again.

“..wWess..”

White joined the mass of yellow. Expressions, faces, silhouettes- all gone. All she saw was a dull blob of color but that was fine. Just so long as they were there.

_I don’t think I can say too many words though… wow, even my head voice sounds funny…_

_So what DO I say?_

_Great friend, best teammate, wish we could finish Beacon together…. That ice shard move was super cool…_

“…’m… sorry.”

  _Close enough._

Ruby thought she heard a sound rise above the buzzing, a high and drawn-out note.

But then the roaring in her head drowned it out.

And darkness swallowed up all the rest.


End file.
